#861: HAIGH, Andrew: 45 Years (2015)

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HAIGH, Andrew (United Kingdom)
45 Years [2015]
Spine #861
Blu-ray


In this exquisitely calibrated film, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay perform a subtly off-kilter pas de deux as Kate and Geoff, an English couple who, on the eve of an anniversary celebration, find their long marriage shaken by the arrival of a letter to Geoff that unceremoniously collapses his past into their shared present. Director Andrew Haigh carries the tradition of British realist cinema to artful new heights in 45 Years, weaving the momentous into the mundane as the pair go about their daily lives, while the evocatively flat, wintry Norfolk landscape frames their struggle to maintain an increasingly untenable status quo. Loosely adapting a short story by David Constantine, Haigh shifts the focus from the slightly erratic Geoff to Kate, eliciting a remarkable, nuanced portrayal by Rampling of a woman's gradual metamorphosis from unflappable wife to woman undone.

95 minutes
Color
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2017
Director/Writer


Based on a short story by David Constantine (In Another Country), Andrew Haigh was 42 when he adapted it and directed 45 Years.

Other Haigh films in the Collection:

#622: Weekend (2011)
#1234: All of Us Strangers (2023)

The Film

Kate (Charlotte Rampling) and Geoff (Tom Courtenay) are an older couple, apparently as comfortable as an old pair of shoes.

The pas de deux which follows — in which their world is turned upside-down — is one of the most exquisite acting duets you will ever see. Haigh covers all his bases; his camera is never intrusive; and best of all, he pulls off the delicately-acted ending with absolute perfection. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes will never sound the same again.

Film Rating (0-60):

53

The Extras

 The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Ella Taylor

Commentary

Featuring Haigh and producer Tristan Gollgher

Directors should never do commentaries with their producers. Too much Mutual Admiration Society.

Documentary

Featuring interviews with Haigh, Gollgher, actors Charlotte Rampling (Kate) and Tom Courtenay (Geoff), editor Jonathan Alberts, and director of photography Lol Crawley
Interview

With David Constantine, author of the short story on which the film is based

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

33

53 + 33 =

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